Investigating the relationship between mental health components and mediating roles of peer pressure on university students

Abstract

The capacity to avoid mental health problems and encourage psychological well-being is one of the key factors for effective psychological functioning. An individual’s ability, particularly adolescents, to maintain positive mental health outcomes is surrounded by various challenges, including biological, cognitive, social, and emotional. The study examined the indirect and direct effects of mental health indicators and peer pressure among university students in Nigeria. Data were collected among 299 undergraduates of Adeyemi Federal University of Education, Ondo through the online Google form. The data were analyzed using descriptive analysis. Furthermore, the heuristic model was tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). According to the results, stress significantly and positively predicts anxiety, depression, and peer pressure. Also, anxiety has a significant and positive impact on depression. Peer pressure does not significantly predict depression and also does not mediate between stress and anxiety. The study confirmed the effect of stress in determining the mental health outcomes of undergraduates. The findings of this study provide a robust ground for a deeper understanding of the practical and theoretical importance of three components of mental health (depression, anxiety, and stress), and their implications on the psychological functioning of an individual. Furthermore, these findings underscore peer pressure as a strong risk factor for mental health concerns in an individual. Empirically, the findings of this study are in support of existing studies that identified peer pressure as a potential facilitator of depression and similar health concerns of an individual. Thus, a need for psychological intervention that can prevent the presence or diligently disallow the display of peer pressure among adolescents in their day-to-day social encounters, in order to discourage the development of depression-related health concerns among college students in Nigeria.